Mark Haddon | |
---|---|
Born | Northampton, Northamptonshire, England | 26 September 1962
Occupation | Writer, illustrator |
Nationality | English |
Education | MA, English Literature |
Alma mater | Merton College, Oxford Uppingham School Spratton Hall School |
Period | 1987–present |
Genre | Novels, children's literature, poetry, screenplays, radio drama |
Notable awards |
|
Spouse | Sos Eltis |
Children | 2 |
Website | |
markhaddon |
Mark Haddon (born 26 September 1962) is an English novelist, best known for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, the Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth Writers' Prize for his work.
In 2003, Haddon won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award—in the Novels rather than Children's Books category—for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time . He also won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in the Best First Book category, as The Curious Incident was considered his first book written for adults. [1] Despite being categorized as an adult book for some awards, Haddon also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2003 for the book. [2] The book was furthermore long-listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize, [3] and became a long-running stage play.
The Curious Incident is written from the perspective of an autistic 15-year-old boy, Christopher John Francis Boone. In an interview at Powells.com, Haddon claimed that this was the first book that he wrote intentionally for an adult audience; he was surprised when his publisher suggested marketing it to both adult and child audiences (it has been very successful with adults and children alike). [1] However, it has also received criticism from autistic readers for its 'depressing' depiction of Christopher, the autistic protagonist. [4]
His short story "The Pier Falls" was longlisted for the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, the richest prize in the world for a single short story. [5] He published a collection of short stories inspired by classical mythology called Dogs and Monsters in 2024. [6]
In 2023, he turned down an OBE for his services to literature, saying: 'I would feel uneasy accepting an honour which presumes an uncritical acceptance of the British Empire as a good thing.' [7]
Haddon is a vegetarian. He describes himself as a "hard-line atheist". [8] [9] In 2019, a heart bypass followed by long COVID left him with brain fog that made him unable to read or write. He spoke to The Guardian in 2024 about his five-year-long process of partial recovery, saying that although he still could not read properly, the fog was "starting to thin a little". [10]
Haddon lives in Oxford with his wife Sos Eltis, a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, and their two sons. [8]
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2003.
Jeanette Winterson is an English author.
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author of the book by The Guardian newspaper, which established it in 1965 and inaugurated it in 1967. It was a lifetime award in that previous winners were not eligible. At least from 2000 the prize was £1,500. The prize was apparently discontinued after 2016, though no formal announcement appears to have been made.
Kate Atkinson is an English writer of novels, plays and short stories. She has written historical novels, detective novels and family novels, incorporating postmodern and magical realist elements into the plots. Her debut, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book Award, the precursor to the Costa Book Award, in 1995. The novels Life After Life and A God in Ruins won the Costa Book Award for novel in 2013 and 2015. She is also known for the Jackson Brodie series of detective novels, which has been adapted into the BBC One series, Case Histories.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in the 1892 short story "The Adventure of Silver Blaze". Haddon and The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Unusually, it was published simultaneously in separate editions for adults and children.
Gerard Woodward is a British novelist, poet and short story writer, best known for his trilogy of novels concerning the troubled Jones family, the second of which, I'll Go to Bed at Noon, was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize. As of April 2024, he is a professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University.
Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars is a 1996 Children's BBC sitcom, based on the book of the same name by Mark Haddon.
Jane Mary Gardam is an English writer of children's and adult fiction. She also writes reviews for The Spectator and The Telegraph, and writes for BBC radio. She lives in Kent, Wimbledon, and Yorkshire. She has won numerous literary awards, including the Whitbread Award twice. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.
Framed is a 2005 children's novel by English writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, Whitbread Children's Book of the Year, Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, and Blue Peter Book Award.
Loch Coruisk is an inland fresh-water loch, lying at the foot of the Black Cuillin in the Isle of Skye, in the Scottish Highlands.
David Fickling Books Ltd (DFB) was founded in 1999 and became an independent publishing house in July 2013 following 12 years (2001-2013) with Scholastic and later Random House. They have published several prize-winning and bestselling books including Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, Bing Bunny by Ted Dewan, Pants by Nick Sharratt and Giles Andreae, Before I Die by Jenny Downham, Trash by Andy Mulligan and A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton.
Anthony John McGowan is an English author of books for children, teenagers and adults. He is the winner of the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal for Lark.
Boom! is a 2008 children's science fiction novel by English writer and illustrator Mark Haddon. It is the revised version of Haddon's Gridzbi Spudvetch!, published in 1993.
TheWriters' Prize, previously known as the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2015. Starting in 2017, the sponsor was Rathbone Investment Management. At the 2023 award ceremony, it was announced that the prize was looking for new sponsorship as Rathbones would be ending their support. In November 2023, having failed to secure a replacement sponsor, the award's governing body announced its rebrand as The Writers' Prize.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a play by Simon Stephens based on the novel of the same name by Mark Haddon. During its premiere run, the play tied the record for winning the most Olivier Awards (seven), including Best New Play at the 2013 ceremony. The play is a National Theatre Production, in association with Frantic Assembly, who specialised in the movement direction.
The Pier Falls is the first short story collection by Mark Haddon published in 2016 and contains nine stories generally disturbing and dark. Mark Haddon is best known for his prize-winning first novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Elle McNicoll is a Scottish and British bestselling children's literature writer. McNicoll has been described as "undoubtedly an outstanding new talent in children's books [who] will inspire readers young and old for generations to come".
The Porpoise is a novel by English author Mark Haddon published in 2019, best known for his first novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize.
Stephen Edward Rubin was an American publisher and music critic.
Jonathan Buckley is a British writer who won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2015 and the Novel Prize in 2022. He has written twelve novels and a number of travel guides.